A 2500-rated GM, Baadur Jobava, was caught spewing racist remarks against a Chinese GM following loss in the Airthings Masters qualifier.
Update: This article was originally published in 2023 but has since been updated to reflect what Baadur Jobava has been doing since his incident.
A Georgian chess Grandmaster, Baadur Jobava, is currently in the hot seat for throwing racist remarks. The 2578-rated player was competing in the Airthings Masters qualifier on February 3, when he lost a match against a Chinese GM of the same rating. He accused his opponent of cheating and took to Chess.com's moderator to give an obnoxious complain.
Jobava accuses Xiangyu Xu of cheating and said "Ban all these Chinese motherf***ers."
The Champion Chess Tour kickstarted with the Airthings Masters qualifier in which many high-rated GMs flocked to grab the limited slots. One of the GMs was Baadur Jobava who is currently rank #278 in the world. Jobava had many notable achievements and was looking to participate in the Airthings Masters alongside players like Carlsen and So. However, he suffered a loss against Xiangyu Xu, a 2578-rated Chinese GM, in the midst of the qualifier.
The three-time Georgian champion did not take his loss well as he believes his opponent was cheating. After the game, he sent a foul message to Xu, "You little Chinese piece of sh**. How dare you cheat like that shameless mtf."
He then called a Chess.com moderator to file a complain. All of this conversation was captured in a video and it surfaced on Reddit.
"Tell them he must [be] banned immediately, not after two hours. My tournament is over, he made me tilted. I will lose 10 in a row."
He asked for his point back and called for all Chinese players to be banned. After the call with the moderator was over, he continued to say: "There was one hundred players in this tournament and I found one cheater in this tournament. Chess.com does nothing.. say nothing and do nothing. This is unreal."
Both players, Jobava and Xu, share the same rating and ranking. Xiangyu Xu is a 23-year-old who is a part of the Chinese Chess Olympic Team and is a renowned GM in China. He was a part of the winning squad in the FIDE World Team Championship alongside his teammates Lu Shanglei, Bai Jinshi, and Li Di.
Will he face punishment?
Although Jobava threw cheating accusations, he might be punished for unleashing derogatory remarks against his opponent. Chessarena.com, referred to a legal expert who works with FIDE (World Chess Federation) to understand the consequences of Jobava's actions.
It stated, "FIDE Ethics Commission will be in the position to investigate matters such as this one if the offended party, his or her chess federation, or an official FIDE body files an official complaint with the Commission. Concerned parties can also address the FIDE Council, the top governing body of FIDE. The Council may take this case to the Ethics Commission as well." As for now, there are no punishments imposed on Jobava.
Jobava banned from Chess.com for the rest of 2023
Chess.com released a response to this case. The team conducted a review and contacted everyone involved, including Jobava himself. Chess.com then imposed a ban on Jobava's account, preventing him from participating in all prize events for the rest of 2023.
"There is no place in our game for sexism/racism/or any forms of intolerance, and there is an expectation for both professionals and amateurs alike to uphold this standard on Chess.com and in our broader communities."
The ruling was certainly just for Jobava's behavior, as everything in chess needs to be of the utmost integrity. This also includes esports betting platforms, such as online casinos, that allow players to bet on chess matches.
What has Jobava been up to since his ban?
In the two and a half years since Jobava's incident with Xiangyu Xu, he has kept a fairly low profile outside of chess itself. In fact, Jobava has added to his resume, as he became the Georgian National Chess Champion in 2024 and is still competing in international chess tournaments to this day.
Jobava's famed opening, the Jobava London, has also become extremely popular, with many starter players choosing to adopt it over the traditional London System that has always been a staple for lower-rated players. He has even been featured in several videos explaining the opening, how to play it, and the theory beyond the first 10 or so moves with the opening.
For the most part, it seems Jobava and the community have put the incident in 2023 behind them. Jobava has not been in any hot water since being banned for a year on Chess.com. While the GM wasn't exactly sorry about the incident, mainly citing that he was using offensive language and not a racial slur, he hasn't run into any more of that trouble.
Speaking of Chess.com, Jobava is no longer banned from competing in prize events through the site. Chess.com has even continued to feature the GM in articles and practice sets, so there appears to be mended bridges between the two sides.
Hopefully, Jobava can stay out of hot water for the remainder of his chess career.
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